Chapter 7

Charlie stood with his back against the wall outside the school. To his right was the metal door that led to the locker room for football players. Practice had ended early today and as a result he hadn't gone to the stadium. He looked up at the bright sky and couldn't help but grin slightly. He had missed this feeling Charlie admitted to himself.

The metal door opened and he turned his head to look at it. Looking back at him was Gray. His hair was still dripping wet and his hoodie was nearly soaked. He clenched his jaw tight enough for Charlie to see the muscles around his temple.

"Wait up," said Bryce as he came out.

His hair was wet as well and unlike Gray he was shirtless. On his body Charlie could see small droplets of water.

"What are you doing here?" Charlie asked Bryce.

Bryce smirked, "Since you did get me involved today, I have a right to know what's happening."

Charlie shrugged before looking at Gray, "where do you wanna talk?"

Gray grit his teeth and started walking and Charlie followed. The trio moved through the school and ended up in an area that Charlie had never seen before. They had come out of a hallway into a circular room. To their right was a ramp that wrapped around the walls and went down one floor. On the side opposite to where they were standing was what looked to be a cafeteria and on the floor in the middle of the room was a large 'T' made up of mosaic tiles.

"Where are we?" Charlie asked as they moved down the ramp.

Bryce gave him a puzzled look, "this is the second cafeteria, where all the ninth graders eat, don't you know?"

Charlie made an 'o' with his mouth as he looked around, "I was… going through something the first year of high school so I usually ate with a teacher."

"Why're we here though?" Charlie asked.

"Ah, that's cause this place has been reserved for film days after school so many times that people stopped coming here," Bryce explained.

Once they were at the bottom Gray suddenly spun around and aggressively moved towards Charlie, "Alright you weasel explain everything," there was anger and frustration in his voice. 

"Fine, fine," Charlie said as he showed Gray his hands.

Once Gray had backed off a little, Charlie rubbed the back of his head and pushed up his glasses, "you said that you just got out of a relationship," Charlie remembered back to when he had seen Gray walking down the hall, "but that's not the reason why you don't want a girlfriend, is it?"

Charlie watched carefully as Gray's eyebrows raised for a moment, his eyes widened and he leaned backwards. Then he pursed his lips and drew in a deep breath before turning away and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Are you gay?" Bryce asked as he leaned towards Charlie.

Charlie jumped away, "Me?! No!" Charlie shouted.

"Oh, just asking, you were watching him pretty closely so I thought maybe," Bryce trailed off.

"No, I'm just watching how he reacts, is all," Charlie said.

Gray placed his hands on his hips and sighed. He stared at Charlie thinking about what he should say.

"He doesn't seem like the type to run his mouth, Gray," said Bryce as he found a seat on the floor. He crossed his legs and leaned back on his arms.

Gray clicked his tongue, making an annoyed face as he finally approached Charlie again.

"The last girl was too clingy," he finally said.

Charlie didn't respond, only giving him a blank look back.

"Agh," he made a frustrating noise, "I just wanna play ball man and be good at it," he paused for a moment and rubbed his neck, "but I also want someone," he said in a quieter voice.

Charlie looked up towards the roof of the building and noticed there were flags from different countries there, though only a few countries were present. 

After he felt the silence had been long enough Charlie asked, "someone independent?"

"No, yes?" Gray rubbed his brow.

"I don't know man," Gray had closed his eyes and placed his hands on the top of his head, "I just want to play well and after the game have someone to talk to about it, or be able to talk to someone after practice."

The lines started connecting for Charlie. He saw a way through this and relaxed for a moment.

"I can help you with that, you know, finding someone to talk to," Charlie offered as he sat down on the ground.

Gray's eyes flew open. He snapped around and stared at Charlie, "How?"

Charlie pulled his phone out and opened a note taking app. His thumbs started dancing on the screen, typing something before he turned it around to show Gray.

"First we write down your requirements, 'not clingy', 'good listener', 'supportive', are good ones to start with," he showed Bryce the phone, "what do you think?"

Bryce sat straight and read the three items that Charlie had said out loud. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully before looking to Charlie, "you need to add 'willing to do everything in the relationship'."

"What do you mean?" Charlie pulled the phone back.

A mischievous smile appeared on Bryce's face, "why don't you explain it, Gray?"

Charlie turned to look at Gray who's demeanor had suddenly changed. The large quarterback hid his hands behind his back and shifted his weight onto his left leg. He bent his right leg so that only the front of his shoe would be touching the ground. He hunched forwards slightly and started twisting his shoulders and right leg. He looked down as he spoke.

"I've… talked…" he murmured.

"Huh? What the hell just happened?" Charlie turned to Bryce who was desperately trying to hold in a laugh.

"Give him a bit," Bryce managed to say.

"I've… talked… girl… before…"

"Louder Gray," shouted Bryce as he burst out laughing.

"I've never talked to a girl… before…"

A cold chill ran through Charlie's body, "wha-what was that again?"

Bryce continued to laugh hysterically, even more so now that he'd seen Charlie's reaction.

"I've never talked to a girl before," Gray said sheepishly.

Charlie's jaw dropped. He stared at Gray in disbelief and took a moment to gather himself, shaking his head to clear the disbelief but everytime he went to speak it returned.

"Huh?" he finally managed to say.

"All the girlfriends I've had were girls that approached me first," he explained, "they were also the ones that made the first move," his voice became quieter the more he spoke.

No matter what he heard, the disbelief wouldn't leave Charlie's mind.

"He's telling the truth, I've been around him since freshman year and every girl that's approached him has made the moves," Bryce added.

"Moves?" Charlie asked, "as in multiple moves?"

Charlie's eyes widened and his head snapped to Gray, "they didn't make the first move in bed too, did they?" he asked.

Gray plugged his ears and began walking around the large room saying, "I can't hear you, I can't hear you."

Charlie turned to Bryce who was on the ground, rolling in laughter.

"Ugh," Charlie groaned as he felt his strength fade. He lied on the ground and rubbed the space between his eyebrows with his thumb and index finger. 

"This feels like a fever dream," he said to himself amongst the chaos around him.

Suddenly, Charlie shot up, sitting straight. He thought about how Gray had never approached a girl before and as he watched him now, he realized he wouldn't be able to anytime soon. He then remembered how Chandler said that she wanted the guy to approach her and his strength faded once more. He laid down on the ground and curled up into a ball.

"I wanna go home," he said as Gray continued to walk around with his ears plugged and Bryce continued to laugh on the ground.

  ***

"What's wrong with you?" Chandler asked when she walked up to Charlie on the rooftop.

He was leaning against the fence lifelessly, "no reason," he whispered in a dead voice.

"So, I'm assuming you did some scouting by now, what're your thoughts?" she asked.

"If I'm being completely honest it's looking like a lost cause unless you make the first move," he explained. He saw Chandler going to speak and continued, "I know you're not going to do that so I'll have to think of some way but it'll take time."

Chandler let out a frustrated grunt, "Fine, but don't take too long," she said before leaving.

After she had left Charlie rested his elbows against the fence and buried his head between them. His fingers slowly curled into a tight fist that he squeezed before violently pushing himself away. He took a few steps around the roof.

"You did a good thing Char, you should continue to do it Char," Charlie waved his hands around his head as he imitated someone in a high pitched voice.

"Everything's going wrong now," he mumbled to himself as he watched the sun disappear. 

He started kicking the gravel on the roof, whether it was from frustration or something he had to do to help him think, he didn't know. He silently continued to do so until he heard a slight creak from the window.

"It's time to go!" shouted a teacher as she reached for the handle.

Quickly, Charlie jogged to his backpack before entering the window and walking down the hall with the teacher. They were going in the same direction but Charlie made sure to stay a few steps behind the teacher. He didn't want to start small talk with someone who had seen him get rejected.

Eventually, they made it to the commons where she took the stairs down to the first floor leaving Charlie alone. As he was about to take the first step down he looked up and sighed. With a quick spin he turned around and entered a hallway on the second floor. He continued walking to the end of it until he entered a familiar classroom.

"And why are you here so late?" Mr. Liev asked as he continued to grade papers. He had on a pair of thick-rimmed reading glasses and a red pen with which he checked or made crosses.

Charlie meandered around the classroom, looking at the whiteboard and other papers thumbtacked to the wall that he had seen almost everyday.

"When someone asks you a question you're supposed to respond Charlie," Mr. Liev still didn't look up.

After Charlie had walked around the classroom he found a seat near Mr. Liev and slumped down. He rubbed his forehead before looking up at him. "What do you do when the person you're trying to help doesn't know what they're doing?" he asked.

Mr. Liev blew a puff of air through his nose before smiling to himself, "isn't that obvious man?"

Charlie frowned, "just tell me Liev."

Mr. Liev put the pen down and took of his glasses. He gave Charlie a good hard look and leaned forwards. "If someone doesn't know what they're doing and you do, then you teach them, dummy."

Charlie deflated, slumping further in his chair. He made an ugly sound, halfway between a sigh and a grunt before closing his eyes and letting his body go loose.

"So, who're you helping this time?" Mr. Liev asked.

"It's not like that."

Mr. Liev waited for an answer and after Charlie realized he would have to tell him something he fixed his posture somewhat before starting, "I'm working on a group project, it's like four of us, and there's this guy who was given a task but he doesn't know how to do it so I was wondering if I should help him or not."

Now Mr. Liev leaned back in his chair. He crossed his left arm across his chest and placed his right on top, touching his chin with his hand as he thought. 

"It's a group project so someone's going to have to teach him if he doesn't know what he's doing," he said.

An overwhelming sense of fatigue and annoyance washed over Charlie when he heard Mr. Liev's answer. Seeing this brought a smile to Mr. Liev's face and he let out a bit of a chuckle.

"You enjoy seeing your students in pain don't you?" Charlie grumbled.

Mr. Liev rose from his chair and walked over to Charlie. He sat on the desk and placed his hand on Charlie's shoulder, "No," he shook Charlie, "just you."

Now Charlie smiled. In a quick movement he pushed himself to his feet, "Guess I'll have to do my best imitation of you then."

"And what does that look like?"

"A lot of yelling and a whole lot of nothing."

Mr. Liev swiped at Charlie who avoided it, "thank you," said as he left.

Mr. Liev nodded and watched him leave.

  ***

Gray shuffled backwards three steps before letting the ball sail through the air. Almost forty yards away was Bryce who caught the ball in one smooth motion with his left elbow before tossing it back at Gray. The two were alone on the green field illuminated only by the stadium lights above. The sky had darkened long ago and with nothing else to do at home, they decided to stay a bit longer and play catch. 

"You were laughing too hard back there," Gray threw the ball fast at Bryce who caught it with ease once again.

"Was I?" Bryce chuckled, "If something's funny how can I not laugh?"

Bryce threw the ball back and was given another quick pass, this one low to the ground, one he had to dive for.

"Do you think he's gonna come back?" Gray asked.

Bryce rose to his feet, thinking as he tossed the ball around in his hands, "Who knows, but he's put you in a bad spot if he doesn't come back," Bryce threw the ball back.

"What do you mean?" Gray asked as he took a few steps back to catch the pass.

"Today, you announced to basically the whole school that you're not looking for a girlfriend and you can't ask anyone out either," Bryce explained as the ball came his way, "in other words, whether it was intentional or not he's made it so that the chance of you getting a girlfriend without asking someone is super low."

"Shit!" Gray punched the ball out of the air.

"But he isn't the type to put people in a bad spot and leave them there," Bryce said as he ran over to pick up the ball.

"Do you know him?"

Bryce reached down to grab the ball, "kinda, but you wouldn't wanna hear the story, it's from a long time ago."

"But are you sure he'll be back?"

Bryce looked up past Gray and saw someone walking towards them from the side entrance. Even from this distance Bryce could make out the circular glasses and the brown bangs. 

"I'm positive," he said as he threw the ball over Gray's head.

As he was walking to the field Charlie saw the ball fly out of Bryce's hand. Initially he thought that Bryce had thrown it far so that Gray would run to catch it but the closer it got to he realized that it was for him. He brought his hands to his chest and reached for the ball as it neared only for it to hit his left hand then right then the ground.

In the distance he could hear Bryce laughing. Acting like nothing happened, Charlie picked up the ball and tossed it to Gray when he reached them. They both looked at him, waiting for him to say something. He looked at Gray studying him for a moment then looked at Bryce.

"Why're yall still here? Don't y'all have a game tomorrow?" Charlie finally asked.

"It's hard to sleep the night before a game," Gray answered.

Bryce pointed at Gray, "I'm just here to make sure he gets home."

"Why're you here?" Gray asked.

Charlie turned to face him, "I'm here to tell you that I'll turn you into a person that's capable of asking just about anyone out."

The chirping of the bugs grew closer, drowning out all other noise. Gray squeezed the ball as he hid his smile and looked down. He looked at Bryce who shrugged with a slight chuckle.

"I told you," he said.

"We'll start on monday, after your practice is done come to the second cafeteria," Charlie instructed.

As he went to leave Bryce grabbed his shoulder, "won't that be really late?"

Charlie turned around and looked at him blankly, "you don't have to be there."

Bryce clicked his tongue, "bro you dragged me into this, there's no way I'm leaving now." 

"Even if you stay you won't get anything out of it."

Bryce paused for a second before speaking, "I don't need something, I just," he stopped himself. He turned his head away from Charlie for a moment and shook off whatever was on his mind, "I just want to be entertained."

Charlie nodded, "fine," he started walking away again but was stopped by Bryce again.

"Again, isn't that really late?"

Charlie looked at Gray, "do you have anything to do after school?"

Gray shook his head.

"What about you?" Charlie turned to Bryce who too shook his head.

"Then we're all free, I'll see you then."